I think Russians were muted for very long. They, not so long ago, began to gain more freedom in showing their wealth. People there now have more oppurtunities to make money.

Russians had no time to develope their style with all those problems that they had...in my opinion. They were "locked up" in their country with their products mainly. Whilst they solved their never ending problems (with government, communism, wars...etc)...the Western countries already had fashion and more developed sense of it.
I think that those expensive clothes just make them feel important, confident and rich. They can finally show how rich they are...and make sure that their surrounding knows.

My comments/opinions are mainly aimed at Moscow and Kiev (Ukraine, which I think has very similar style to Moscow's!) style..since I've never unfortunately been to St.Petersburg..so here anyway;

Yes there is some obsession with labels/logos but it's slowly going away. Women are starting to dress less tackily and more classy, although sometimes it is quite trendy. I think they have good sense of style, it's just their need to show that they can afford good clothes which sets some things off the right track. I think Rus./Ukr. women are quite beautiful and they are all very high maintenance, you'll never see one with chipped nail polish, unwashed hair, etc. :p

So yes, I think Russian women have loads of potential. But give it a chance..the ex-USSR countries are still so new and are developing at an amazing speed..you've got to give them credit for that.

really cool thread. Everyone seems to be dealing with the 'tacky' element of these photos.
I can see why, and I have to say I'm liking it. They do 'tacky' like no one else I've seen.
Russian women have an amazing presence. I think the way they use style when done well, is like a brick to the forehead. Just WOW.
The less done up looks are less interesting. I wonder why?
And some of the guy photos are pretty amazing also.
The sunglasses are cool, and very funny.

That's Drutten, as in Drutten & Jena!! I used to watch them when I was a kid!

Seems like Swedish television bought the concept and adapted their names...

OMG THE PHOTO!! Haha I'm so late...but my parents call(ed..? ) me a little cheburashka sometimes but I never knew what the hell it was. Like they told me it was this thing with big ears but I never understoof

I love the pictures, FIFA! The floppy sunhat is an especially nice touch, but I agree that most of the looks come off as slightly tacky.

A friend of mine just returned from summer study split between Moscow and St Petersburg. She told story about her host family calling her to the television to watch a very popular late night TV host and was surprised to find a drag queen who puts Boy George to shame. She didn't come across a lot of gay pride in Russia so she was initially taken aback by his popularity. Between that and their 15 year old White rapper who thugs it up as much as he can but is most famous for his cutesy hit "Drink Beer!", she playfully postulated that Russians just lack the cheese factor. Everything is done seriously and to the utmost -- if you're going to wear logos, wear as many of them as possible. If you're going to dress as a woman, do it as convincingly and shockingly as possible. And apparently if you're going to dress to impress, do it constantly and look as put together as these ladies do on the streets of St. P. ^^

the drag gueen your talking about would be verka serduchka

and the style in Moscow and the russian citys can honestly be summed by up a trip to brighton beach or sheepshead bay in brooklyn , its women dressed fashionably but it tends to over the top and slightly tacky

I have to admit that when I visited Russia 3 years ago I was pretty...amused by the fashion. In fact, yesterday I was at Mont St Michel with my host family and we were laughing at this womans outfit (short leather jacket with fur on the bottom in a skirt shape + thigh high leather boots on a massive stiletto) and sure enough, she was Russian. Just go to Cannes and whoosh you see them with their died red hair and D&G and Cavalli.

But the last time I visited was 3 years ago when I was 13...so should be different next time I go, especially since I'll be hanging out with people my own age etc. I'm interested...

being partially of Russian origin and having lived for some years in Eastern Europe, I think I might say sth. here

I agree with the ones, that say that Russians dress quite tacky. And everytime I go to Eastern Europe, I SO hope it has become better in the meantime. But I still didn't see that happening Still the old story: horrifyingly dyed hair, overdone make-up, label-mania and too tight, exposed clothes...
Unfortunately this is mostly coupled with a complete lack of self-esteem. I often wonder: Is there ANY personality behind the Gucci glasses or the thick layer of make-up?!
Of course there are some more style-wise people, but actually this is still only in 3-4 metropoles and far from being 'a-thing-going-on' in Russia...

I've seen some great Russian street fashion photos in the FRUiTS LJ community , very good mixes of colour ...some awful mixes too haha , no one has posted any for a while though. I had no idea about this 'tacky' perception of Russian fashion.

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"When a woman smiles her dress should smile with her." Vionnet.